Rechroming Your Parts Questions and Answers
So how do we rechrome your parts.
The chrome restoration of your parts is a complicated time consuming process, but the end results are so worth it. all the years our team have been rechroming parts we still take great satisfaction turning your often rusty ugly parts into something beautiful again.
1.
First we take the chrome plating layer off, electrolyically in a caustic soda solution before transferring it to a libour stripping solution to remove the nickel and copper deposits this is also done electrolyically. This process takes several hours, This is a sulphric acid based solution so we carry out daily checks to ensure the solution is always at its optimum
2.
They then move on to our polishing department for our highly trained skilled polishers to bring the parts back to a mirror finish. This is a multistage process where progressively finer grades of abrasives are used right through to a soft mop finish to give the mirror finish needed prior to the rechroming process
3.
The parts are inspected and hand cleaned then, Depending on the substrate of your component they are processed on dedicated process plants. All rechoming parts are cyanid copper plated, acid copper plated, heavy nickel plated and chrome plated. The plating solutions are looked after by our in house chemist. Ensuring beautiful, long lasting results.
Questions & answers
What is your usual turnaround?
One of our many strengths is we turn your parts around more quickly than our competitors. Because we are a large company we have a much greater capacity. So we aim to complete your rechroming project within 2-3weeks. When you make your enquiry we will given you an indication of current turnaround time.
My parts are really old and pitted, can you remove all of the rust and pits?
It is important for us to explain the process of rechroming and for potential customers to understand the rechroming process. We are not filling car panels with filler to hide the dents and imperfections. Plating is done in microns less than a diameter of a single hair. The skill is in the polishing of the substrate as there is a fine line between polishing enough metal to remove the corrosion, but not over polishing and cause the part to split or cause a hole. We can lead load and heavy copper fill to help these issues, but this is not a guaranteed process. What is guaranteed is we will keep you fully updated with photos and advise you on what results we think we can achieve.
Can you rechrome my motorcycle exhausts
All used motorbike exhausts must be brought to us compleaty clean. The baffles will need to be removed. The exhauts will then need to be filled with thinners and soaked for a week. you can do this by putting a bung in each end filling with thinners and shacking daily for about a week. please then jet wash it out. This is critical as any carbon will deposit on your exaust durring the plating process causing a rougth and poor visual finish. It would also contaminate our plating soloutions.
Why will you only give me an estimate and not a fixed price for rechroming my parts?
We can not confirm a price of rechroming until we have stripped off the existing chrome plating. It is only at this point we can completely see what your rechroming project entails. It is not until this point we can tell if any repairs need to be done. Most projects will not require repairs or extra work. Therefore your estimate will be the cost for your rechroming project.
What would be common areas of concern I need to look out for?
When rechroming bumpers the worst corrosion is usually where the fixing bracket is welded to the bumper. The same goes for any parts that are joined or welded together Moisture can gather there and constantly erode that particular area of the bumper to the point that the only material left there is the plating. When stripped we sometimes find a hole, although we can usually repair this area the repair will still leave a small blemish after the rechroming has been completed. When rechroming motorcycle rims we can not finish down the spoke holes as this would damage and distort them, as they are so close together the polishing wheels are to big to get in between.
Where are you based
Rechoming specalists are based near Birmingham in the heart of the west midlands, We are 5 minutes from junction 1 M5 or 15mins outside birmingham city center. Rechroming speacalists are more than happy for you to bring your parts to our site in birmingham for us to asses your rechroming requirements. A member of our rechroming team would be happy so show you around our factory to give you an insight into how your rechroming is carried out.
Do I need to prepare my parts for rechroming?
No sometimes you can do more harm than good. We do ask you to dismantle all parts before sending them for rechroming and ensure they are free from paint.
Do your carry out rechroming on alloy wheels?
No we can’t rechrome wheels of any type due to the geometry of wheels and make up of the cast alloy. We do carry out rechroming on classic motorcycle rims.
What happens if you discover a problem with my rechroming project?
After stripping we will have a better idea of any problems we may incur with your rechroming project and will contact you to discuss. Usually we will be able to repair the item, this generally will mean the part will need to be leaded loaded, if this is the case it will also need extra layers of acid copper plating and extra polishing to level out the surface. If this is the case one of our rechroming specialist will contact you to discuss in detail what the options and cost implications are.
Will i be charged if my parts are found to be beyond repair
Occassionally when your parts have been stripped the corrision is just to severe for us to make a repair, we can carry out basic repairs only on site not full restorations. We will stop work and contact you immediately. We will not charge you for any work we have carried out.
How do I get a quote from you?
You are more than welcome to bring your rechroming project to us at our factory in birmingham. If this is not possible Please contact us preferably by email with photos and a Parts list of your project. We can then give you an estimate of the cost of rechroming your parts.
How do you ensure you won’t lose my parts?
Our dedicated restoration team will log and photograph your parts on arrival. We then track your parts through all the different processes. We also ask you play your part by doing the same when you send the parts to us for rechroming. We will then cross reference your part list with ours. While we will take every effort to ensure we don’t loose parts very occasionally due to the nature of our process and the size of our plating lines if a small item does come loose during plating it may not be retrievable due to the toxic nature of the solutions used.
Do you chrome plate aluminium
Yes we specialise in rechroming aluminium. We use a special non aggressive striping soloutions to ensure when removing the old chrome plating we dont damage the aluminium underneath. Aluminium is not a natural substrate to chrome plate therefore a very heavy layer of copper needs to deposited to avoid the alumium oxidising under the plating. Stopping the plating from lifting